Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Weak Tornado Confirmed in South Dakota
Aug 14 2014 // The National Weather Service says a weak tornado caused minor damage at Lake Cochrane in South Dakota’s Deuel County over the weekend. The afternoon twister had estimated peak winds of 75 mph and was rated an EF-0,...
10 Years After Hurricane Charley: A Lesson in Strong Building Codes
Aug 13 2014 // It has been 10 years since the record-breaking 2004 Atlantic hurricane season when four major hurricanes – Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne – all made landfall in Florida within the space of six weeks, damaging one in...
Why Is Pacific Outpacing Atlantic This Storm Season?
Aug 13 2014 // It’s almost the middle of August, and the Pacific has been cranking out hurricanes and typhoons all over the place. So, what’s with the Atlantic? After just about two and half months, hurricanes Arthur and...
As Mid-August Approaches, Where Are All the Atlantic Hurricanes?
Aug 13 2014 // It’s almost the middle of August, and the Pacific has been cranking out hurricanes and typhoons all over the place. So, what’s with the Atlantic? After just about two and half months, hurricanes Arthur and...
Fitch: Hawaii Storms Shouldn’t Hurt Cat Bonds
Aug 12 2014 // Insured losses stemming from two Hawaii hurricanes won’t break the bank, in large part because both storms diminished in intensity or avoided a direct hit. Fitch Ratings concluded in a review of the situation that...
PERILS Issues 3rd Insured Loss Estimate for Windstorm Tini – $375 Million
Aug 12 2014 // PERILS AG said its revised loss estimate for windstorm Tini, also known as Darwin, which affected Ireland and the United Kingdom on February 12 and 13, is €281 million [$375 million]. The third estimate of the property...
Typhoon Halong Inundates Japan: AIR Analysis
Aug 12 2014 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide’s report on former Typhoon Halong notes that it was downgraded to a tropical storm before making its first landfall in Japan on Shikoku Island at approximately 6 a.m. Japan...
Hurricane Julio Downgraded To Category 1 Storm As It Struck Hawaii
Aug 11 2014 // Hurricane Julio weakened Sunday night as it neared Hawaii, where a rural swath of the Big Island was still coping with power outages and downed trees in the wake of Tropical Storm Iselle. On the island of Kauai, rescuers...
Feds Offer Low-Interest Loans to Fix Mass. Tornado Damage
Aug 11 2014 // The federal Small Business Administration is offering low-interest loans to Massachusetts residents and businesses to repair property damage from the tornado that hit Revere on July 28. The tornado brought winds of up to...
Weakened Typhoon Halong Lashes Japan; 1 Dead, Dozens Hurt
Aug 11 2014 // A tropical storm was moving out into the Sea of Japan on Sunday after lashing the country with rain and winds, leaving one person dead, more than 50 injured and prompting evacuation alerts for about 1.2 million residents...
Fla Citizens’ Business Travel Saves Florida Money
Aug 8 2014 // A recent article by the Palm Beach Post blasting Citizens Property Insurance Corp. executives for traveling overseas casts a negative image onto the state-owned and operated insurer. However, what the article fails to...
Hundreds of Oregon Households Told to Flee Wildfire
Aug 8 2014 // A new wildfire pushed by gusting winds threatens the small Columbia River Gorge community of Rowena, Ore., where residents of 275 homes had been told to evacuate. The fire made a run along the river in the evening on Aug....
U.S. Fire Prevention Budget Tapped to Fight Summer’s Wildfires
Aug 8 2014 // The U.S. Forest Service will soon have to scale back some projects designed to help prevent wildfires so that it can meet the expenses of fighting this summer’s round of fires. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said...
Hawaii Spared Hurricane As Iselle Weakens to Tropical Storm
Aug 8 2014 // Hawaii escaped its first hurricane strike in 22 years as Iselle was downgraded to a tropical storm just before making landfall at the Big Island. Iselle, bearing winds of 60 miles (96 kilometers) per hour, was 80 miles...
Chance of Below-Normal Hurricane Season Now Up to 70%
Aug 8 2014 // Forecasters with the National Weather Service raised the likelihood for a below-normal season in their most recent Atlantic hurricane season outlook. The update predicts a 70 percent chance of a below-normal season, a 25...
Typhoon Halong Nears Japan; Saturday Landfall Expected: AIR Analysis
Aug 8 2014 // According the catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, strong winds and heavy rainfall from Typhoon Halong have already arrived on Japan’s Daito Islands (about 320 km [200 miles] east of Okinawa), with reports of...
FSU Professor Links Tornado Strength, Frequency to Climate Change
Aug 7 2014 // New research by a Florida State University geography professor shows that climate change may be playing a key role in the strength and frequency of tornadoes hitting the United States. Published this week in the journal...
Typhoons a Major Cause of Losses in July: Aon Benfield – Impact Forecasting
Aug 7 2014 // The latest edition of Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting’s Global Catastrophe Recap report concludes that Super Typhoon Rammasun, which made separate landfalls in the Philippines and China, caused widespread...
Zurich Insurance Profit Rises 6% on Fewer Catastrophe Claims
Aug 7 2014 // Zurich Insurance Group AG, Switzerland’s largest insurer, said second-quarter profit rose 6 percent as it took fewer losses from natural catastrophes. Net income rose to $837 million from $789 million a year earlier,...
Hurricane Iselle Makes Beeline for Hawaii
Aug 6 2014 // Hurricane Iselle, which has been tracking toward Hawaii since last week, is projected to make landfall on the Big Island of Hawaii Thursday night local time, according the catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide. Iselle...
